Asa whitney



'and State of New York, have diseox-*ered and erture in. the bottom lthrough'vvhich the presmelting the ore when prepared inthe eenient- I ing tube or chest. A A 'are the flues for heating the air.

"ing near' their bottom lends. on a revolving the cementing-chamber Y Y Y Y, &c.,A and UNITED 'STATES PAT-ENT] OFFICE.

Asn WHITNEY, on sour-Humm FURJAGE, NEW YORK.

iMPRovED METHODS oF CAusoNATING-AND SMELTING IRON.l

lSpecificationforming'part pt' Letters lntrnf No. 269. duted July 17, 1837.

T0 rtZZ whom tm/ay concern: v

Bc itl known that I, Asa WHITNEY, of Southfield Furnace, in the county of 4Orangenvented a new'aud useful Improveinentin the Method or Art of Garbonating and Sineltiug Iron Ore; and Indo` hereby declare that the' followingis a fulland exact description there of-.that is to say, I build Within the stack of a vblasturnace a-cementing chest or tube, -which I lcan close at the top, and has an appared ore descends as it melts'in'the eru'cible 'of the furnace. I surround thesaid cementiug tube or chest by spiral fines, through which L cause the heat of the furnace to pass, all which will ,bev better understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

' The crossvertical section and elevation rep resent two applications of yheated air for 1B Bare the dams for keeping the'slag of the firisseparate from the metal inthe hearth.

'l T are suspended grates for blowing through, each hanging upon a bar, S, and restbearer, U, upon which ivipersjor arms V are placed, for clearing out any slag that may ac-* c umulate near to the bottom of the grate. "l

, F F are the ash-pits. i Eare door s of the same, .kept perfectly close shut and tight during the'time that the furnaceis Working, and are only opened to remove any slag or scoria that may from time toftime accumulate. i

n C is the hearth of the furnace; D, the crucible, from which the flues X X, &c.,`take their start, to Wind by a double spiral round merge into the smoke-chimney I after having passed round said chamber, up to the top of it.v l

Z is an aperture at the bottom of lthe ceinenting-chamber for-the prepared ore to pass down into the Crucible D,:and thence into the hearth C. l n

N shows" the feeding-box, through which the ore-fluxes and carbon areintroduced into the ceinentingchest.

LlcV are the lids for closing-'the hrepluccs. M M are spaces underthe ends of the grales for any slag that may form in the fire-to pass through into the ash-pits `When/the furnace is Working'. i

' The drawings to which thisdeseription refers are made on a scale of one inch to the foot, and from them all information as to sie may be obtained by reference. The smokefchi'mney is represented broken, to indicate that it may be elevated or built lower,as circumstan- `ces v o r experience may require` It yis my yopinion that by elevating the chimney sut'- ficiently a draft might-be obtained which would be powerful enough to smelt the iron Without the aid or egrpense of a blowing apparatus. l

lHaving describedthe parts shown in' the section', and `supposing the furnaceto-be well' dried and ready for commencing Work, hav.-

ing good fires in A -A A, and the Vceinentingchest.. nearly full of charcoal or -coke, l8vo.,

which is burn-ing out lfor slowly passing dow-n; the aperture Z into the` center or coniiuence' of the three currents of heated air in the crucible D, Iy begin to charge the cementingtube'with such proportions of ore and fluxesas may be properA for smelting and promoting good separationI of the metal from the scorie, with just so much carbon as may be necessary for carbonatingl the same;l and as 'it settles down I continue to add'more at the top through v thefeed-box N, which I close -immediately after each charge until the cementing-chest is full, or, to speak more correctly, perhaps, until theore and fluxeshave descended to the aperture Z, at Whichplace I expect the ore to be perfectly carbonated and that it Will smelt -easily as `it passes into the Crucible D, with rEhe benefits to be derived from this shape Vand construction of furnace, application of heat, andhniethod of carbonatng the ore may be enumerated by stating that anthracite coai. or any fuel that will maintain the requisite degree of heat may be used in the fire-places A` A, as any scoria made by them will pass down to the ash-pits F F of the furnace'and not intcrfere with the iron iu the hearth C; and by Then the ash-pits F E require 2 Qca preparing the iron in the chamber here described it is perfectly free from the influence of any oxygen of the atmosphere that may' pass unconsumed through the crucible; seojtained in the cementingfches-t, thus allowing the melted material a better chance of sepa'- 'ration into cast-iron and yscoria.` I also obtain the advantage of 'usingnomore' charcoal or other carbon than is necessary to carbonate the material put into the cementingfchamber. -When perfect combustion tak'esplace in the fires A' A, tc., (I mean When all the oxygen of the atmosphere blown in combines with its equivalent of carbon,) there is only the resulting intensely-heated gases passing into the crucible of the furnace and coniiuent immediately under the aperture Z, do wn which the prepared materials from the cementingchest are passing, thus presenting at this point the concentrated heat of the three fires, and thereby smelting andV reviving the iron almost at one instant of time, leaving Whatever speciic heat may not be carried off by the combinations here produced to pass through the ilues which Wind round the cementinghchamber, and by permeating the sides thereof pre-` pare .the materials as they are added and pass down from theV feed-box N.

I build the Wholeibottom part of theffurnace and for four feet up abovcthe top of the hearth with iiresandstone, and then commence with fire-bricks for the remaining length of the cementing-chamber. rIhe smoke-chimney I build of common bricks.

The advantages to be derived by using the before described furnace are particularly prominent in situations Where charcoal is scarce and other fuel-as anthracite coal, Src.- is abundant, or Where eres are abundant and the quantity of charcoal is limited in propordtion tothe supply of ore. y

What I claim as my own invention or discovery in the foregoing description and not Vbefore lknown is- Y l The building of a cementing oven or chamber Within'the stack of the furnacaand thereby carbonating the ore-free from the influence of oxygenas much so as possible-also the form of the Crucible, and the application of' heat for carbonating and smelting of the ore by making the current of air pass iu a spiral -manner round the cementing-chamber up to the smoke-chimney.

In witness Whereoand that the foregoing description is a full and clear explanation of my invention or discovery, vIhave hereunto set my hand this 20th day of January, A. D. 1837.

ASA WHITNEY.

Witnesses:

ATHOMAS PnARsoN, TILLIAM I?. "BOYDEN, 

